Fastener inserting tools



May 2, 1961 c. E. ROGERS, JR

FASTENER INSERTING TOOLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Chester E Rage/z); Jr By his Attorney Filed May 14, 1959 c. E. ROGERS, JR 2,982,595

FASTENER INSERTING TOOLS May 2,1961

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 14, 1959 May 2, 1961 C. E. ROGERS, JR

FASTENER INSERTING TOOLS 3 SheetsSheet 3 Filed May 14, 1959 United States Patent 2,982,595 FASTENER INSERTING TooLs Chester E. Rogers, Jr., Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, NJ., a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 14, 1959, Ser, No. 813,211

4 Claims. (Cl. I SS) This invention relates to fastener inserting and more particularly to automatically fed hand tools for driving fasteners such as nails and the like. Numerous automatic hand-held nail inserting guns employ separate, remotely located, feeding units for supplying nails. One such mechanism is shown in United States Letters Patent No. 2,879,509, issued March 31,1959 to G. L. Congdon et al. in which a hand-held pneumatically operated fas- I tener inserting gun is fed nails one at a time from a remotely located, mobile, orienting and supplying unit as fast as the gun can be operated. However, these separate feeding units, to a certain extent, limit portability and generally represent a large proportion of the cost of the entire machine. It is to the elimination of separate feeding units of the type shown in the Congdon et al. patent that this invention is directed.

It has long been recognized that distinct advantages reside in feeding hand guns from magazines or clips at-* "tached directly to the guns, the most obvious advantage,

naturally, being the elimination ofthe separate feeding unit. One method ,of fastenerpackaging particularly adapted'to'magazine, or clip feed" and also of particular convenience in handling, is the type of'package known as the fpaper tape or ,nail carrier strip, wherein nails or other fasteners are secured in parallel spaced relationship side by side on strips of flexible material, generally, paper. The fasteners may be held in loops or pockets or secured directly, to the surface offlthe strip. Nail strips have lo ng'been, in existence and examples thereof "are. to be found in :United; States Letters Patent No. 383,907 and No, 415,1'Z5gissuedto']. R. Prout'y over *Ihese strips, however, ,while' they 'have found ,iutility n relatively large,,,stationary machines, suchas machines for attaching heels to shoes, have not "been generally" employed in hand tools i'or 'gu ns "dueto the lack of reliable, lightweight mechanism which may be employed on, or' as an integral'partiofgthe gun for feeding nails packaged in this manner;

, :It is, "ac'cordinglyfanobjec't' of this invention to pro- .videa lightweight hand tool having J feeding mechanism associatedgdirectly with -thejtooljbyflwhich taped fasteners maybe fedito the tool in an efficient and continuous r .r

Another object of this invention is to provide a fastener inserting gun which'lisfed from. a supply oftaped fastenersmaintained in a. magazine on thegun and which requires a minimum JO Skill in its operation.

Generally, when fasteners are 'fed. in fstrips or ftaped 1 I form, to. fastener inserting tools, I the carrier strip containing' the fasteners is moved directly intothe pathof the strip intoi thework without first being re moved'from 'the strip. Wh'iIe this method has been's'ucc'es'sful, it is limited to applications whereit isf'not" c'ritical whether other parts-of the'strip or paper tape."become torn'and embeddedin firework. However, where such is not desirable, 'a'sfor e'xample,iin the insertion of nails into the siding-of .housesgmeans; must be provided; to remove a driver wl1'ereby the fasteners are driverf directly from i r 2,982,595 Patented May 2, '1961 the nails completely from the carrier strip before they r are driven and to conduct the strip away from the tool and particularly out of the path ofthe driver.

removing the fasteners from the strip prior to their being driven. I

In accordance with these objects there is provided a tool for driving fasteners supplied from a continuous flexible carrier strip'in the form of a paper tape or the like comprising a body portion having a motor for imparting operating strokesto a fastener driver. The driver extends from the bodyportiorr and into a nosepiece which is connected to the body portion in such a manner as to be movable toward and away therefrom 'in order that the driver may move intoand out of a driving chamber" located in the nosepiece. A cylinder is rotatably mounted in the nosepiece and has circumferentially spaced grooves, each engageable with a successive fastener' carried by a fastener strip forconductingthe fasteners one at a time into the driving chamber. Appropriate passageways are provided for guiding a strip from a magazine, which is have been removed therefrom. A knife is provided for separating the fasteners from the strip-before the cylinder moves them into the driving chamber. The cylinder is indexed by pneumatic means which arecperated in mounted on the nosepiece, to' the cylinder and for directing the strip out of the nosepiece after the fasteners timed sequence with the movement of the driver in such manner that a fastener cannot be moved into the driving chamber until the driverhas-been' withdrawn, the pneulmatic' means being supplied with 'compressed air from the body portionof the tool-automatically after each fastener is drivenl I These and other features of the inventionwill now be "described with refe rence, to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the'appended'fclaim's.

In th'e drawings,

1 }Fig. 1 is a side elevation "of a' portable fastener inserting gun embodying the invention; '1'

, .Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the tool as viewed from the-left in Fig. 1; 7

Fig.3 is adetail sectional view of the trigger mech= anism of the tool shown in Fig. 1; i

V Fig.4 is a detail, view, partly in'section, of the fasg tener feeding mechanism; f 1 H i Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on. the line V--V of -a plurality, of common nails; l I

Fig. 8 isa perspective view of a knife for separating the'nails from the carrier strip'shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 isa perspectivezview .of analternative form-of .carrierstripg I Y Fig. 10 is aperspectiv vrew mf a knife eforfseparating nails from the carrieristrip shown in Fig. '9; g I

Fig. 11 is still another. form of carrier strip; and I Big. 12 is "aperspective vie w ofaknife for sep a ting n i s om t carri s p hawl inli sr.

Other tools have employed drivers which pass between loops or pockets on the tape or strip but this method is restricted Fig. 6;is alsectional viewtakenon the line .of

Fig. 7 is a perspectiveiview of a carrier strip mounting.

Referring first to Fig. 7, one form of carrier strip or tape T will be seen as comprising a first layer 2 of paper or other flexible strip material which is substantially flat or at least has no pronounced configuration in the form of waves or loops. A second strip 4 of thinner paper and narrower width is secured to the first strip in such manner as to provide a plurality of spaced pockets or loops'6 extending transversely of the strip 2' but terminating short of its edges. In each of the pockets there is located a nail N. All of the nails N are oriented with their heads extending in the same direction. As stated above, these strips are not new and, per se, form no part of the present invention.

A fastener inserting tool of the type disclosed in the above-identified Congdon et al. patent is best seen in Fig. l and comprises a body portion generally indicated at and having a pistol grip handle 11 with an appropriately positioned trigger 12 (Fig. 3) for controlling a flow of compressed air through a passageway 14 formed in the handle. The compressed air is supplied to the tool from any convenient source through a flexible conduit 16 secured to the tool by an air inlet fitting 18. A pneumatic hammer 20 is mounted upon the body 10 and comprises an air motor 22 of conventional design which is supplied with air through a plurality of connected passageways 24, 25 and 26 (Fig. 2) by depressing the trigger 12 which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. The air motor 22 imparts a series of short percussive strokes to a driver 28 which projects from the body to the left as viewed in Fig. l in a manner identical with the tool shown in the Congdon et al. patent. The driver extends into and drives nails from a nosepiece generally indicated 30 which will be described hereinafter in greater detail. The nosepiece 30 and the body 10 are reciprocable toward and away from each other by interconnecting means in the form of a guide rod 32.

The rod 32 which maintains accurate alignment between these elements is threaded in the nosepiece 30 and is locked at its left-hand end by a nut 33. The rod 32 is slidably received in a bore 34 formed in a portion 36 of the body 10 which joins the hammer 20 and the handle 11. With the exception of the nosepiece 30 the tool as described above is identical to that disclosed in the Congdon et al. patent to which reference may be had for details,not shown here,

The nosepiece 30 is provided with appropriate fastener engaging jaws indicated generally at 38 and comprising a pair of cooperating jaw members 40 (Fig. 4) having arms 42 pivotally mounted in grooves 44 in the left-hand or forward end of the nosepiece and held therein by an annular resilient member 46. The jaws are urged into fastener engaging relationship by a relatively heavy annular resilient band 48 of rubber or the like. The jaws 38 operate in a known manner to guide a fastener,'such as a nail, as it is driven into the work.

The nosepiece 30 comprises a substantially cylindrical housing 50 in which is located a nail receiving chamber 52 which is the central portion of a longitudinal bore 53. The driver, when in the Fig. l or inactive position, enters the right-hand end of the bore 53 opposite the jaws 38. A nail indexing cylinder or barrel 54 having trunnions 56 and 58 is positioned for rotation about an axis A within a cylindrical opening 60 extending parallel with the bore 53 in the housing 50. The cylindrical opening or bore 60 intersects the chamber 52 forming therebetween a nail entry passageway'61 (Figs. 4 and 6). The length of the cylindrical opening 60 defines thelength of the nail receiving chamber. In the cylinder 54 is formed a plurality of nail receiving slots or grooves 62 equally spaced about its periphery. The slots are for the most part V-shaped .in cross section and at their forward or left-hand ends, as seen in Fig. 4, are, provided with camming surfaces 64. Theright-hand end of the cylinder 54 or fastener carrier asitis also calledhas a'frusto-conical periphery 66. A nail positioned inone-of the slots 62 has its head extending outof the cylinder and its point inclined toward the camming surface 64. To accommodate the head, the bore 60 is provided with an enlarged annular groove 68 adjacent the right-hand end of the cylinder 54. It will be noted that the size and depth of the slots 62 are such that a nail supported, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, extends through the nail entry passageway 61 and partially into the chamber 52 so as to be located in the path of the driver 28 when the particular slot which carries the nail is indexed into driving position. The driver first contacts the head of the nail and moves it from right to left, as viewed in Fig. 4, the point engaging the camming surface 64. Continued relative movement between the driver and the housing 50 forces the nail up the camming surface 64 through the supporting jaws 40 and into the work. From Fig. 6 it will be seen that the spacing between adjacent nails N in the tape T coincides with the spacing between adjacent fastener engaging grooves 62 in the carrier 54 so that each successive nail'on the tape enters a successive carrier groove as the cylinder is indexed. Clearance is provided between the-cylinder 54 and the bore 60 to accommodate the superposed layers 2 and 4 of the tape.

A magazine 70 is secured by screws 72, 74 to the housing 50 and is provided with a hinged cover 76. The magazine is'of sutficient size to accommodate a substantial length of a tape T of nails N, the leading end of which is fed to the cylinder 54 through a longitudinal slot or passageway 78 in the housing 50 which intersects the bore 60 approximately 90 beyond or 270 in advance (measured clockwise) of the location of the driving chamber 52. Camming plates 79 and 81 assist the taped nails in entering the slot 78.

To separate the nails from the tape before they are indexed to the driving chamber, a double bladed ejecting member or knife is provided. The knife is secured by appropriate slot and screw connections 82 to the housing 50 to permit its adjustment relatively to the carrier cylinder 54. Each one of a pair of blades 86 (Fig. 8) onthe knife has an inclined camming surface 88 engageable with the shank of a nail carried in the cylinder 54 when the knife is assembled in the manner shown in Fig. 6. The blades are spaced a suflicient distance from each other to accommodate between them the srtip 4, and hence, the loops 6. The surface 89 of each blade opposite the camming surface 88 engages the strip 2 as seen in Fig. 8. As the carrier 54 is indexed in a clockwise direction by means hereinafter to be described, the camming surfaces 88 of the blades engage each nail on both sidesof its retaining loop 6, lifting the nail from the tape, the loop rupturing in the process. The knife 80 is also provided with an inclined groove 90 to accommodate the tion'wherein it extends partially into the driving chamber 52 and is in position to be engaged by the driver 28.

Thus, the nails are completelyremoved from the tape before they are located in position to be driven, and in this manner, no paper or other tape material will enter the driving chamber or be associated with the nail during or after the time it is driven.

Another form of carrier tape is shown in Fig. 9 and comprises a single layer 94 of paper or the like having spaced thereon two continuous lines 96 and 98 of adhesive which may be either pressure sensitive or heat or solvent activatable with the nails N adhering directly thereto. In this instance the nailsv are severed by a knife 100 (Fig. 10) in the form of a single blade having a single continuous camming surface 102 provided with tapered sides 403 which pries the nails from the tape in .5. the same manner as the camming surfaces 88 of the knife 80.

Still another form of carrier tape and the means for removing the nails therefrom are shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The tape comprises a first layer 104 of substantially flat stock, such as paper or the like, with two parallel second strips 106 and 108 secured thereto in such manner as to provide a pair of spaced, aligned pockets 110, 112,

for each nail. The nails N. are removed from the Fig. 11 tape by a knife 114 (Fig. 12) having a single camming surface 116 similar to the knife shown in Fig. 10. The foregoing represent but a sample of the numerous forms of tape and means for removing nails therefrom.

Indexing motion is imparted to the fastener carrier or barrel 54 by pneumatic means operated in timed sequence with the driving stroke. Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, a ratchet wheel 122 will be seen secured to the rearward end of the cylinder 54 and is provided with teeth 124 equal in number and spacing to the nail supporting grooves 62 in the cylinder; The ratchet 122 is located within a counterbore 126 in the housing 50. A bore 128 (Fig. extends transversely of the bore 126 with a slot 130 joining them. Slidable in the bore 128 is a piston 132 which is urged downwardly by a spring 134 compressed between its upper end and a plug 136 thieaded in the housing 50. A pawl 138 is pivoted on a pin 140 in a slot 142 in the piston 132 and is urged outwardly thereof by a spring 144 through the slot 130 and into engagement with the ratchet wheel 122. A spring biased detent 146 engages the ratchet wheel and holds it in position. The detent'also prevents it from moving in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5 when the ratchet is subsequently withdrawn and also serves to prevent the ratchet wheel, and consequently the cylinder, from moving too far in a clockwise direction during the operative stroke.

When the gun is placed in operation, compressed air is supplied to the bore 128, which may also be referred to as the piston chamber, through interconnected passageways 147, 148 which communicate vfith a bore 150 (Figs. 1 and 2) extending through the rod 32. A cap 152 (Fig. 1 on the rod 32 closes the right -hand end of the bore 150. Intersecting the bore 150 in the rod 32 is a transverse bore 153 which in the inactive or Fig; '1 condition of the tool, communicates with an annular chamber 154 in the body portion 36 surrounding the rod.

The annular chamber 154 is at all times pressurized by the compressed air in the handle of the tool being connected thereto by a passageway 156 which communicates with the trigger chamber 158 (Fig. 3) to which the air passageway 14 leads. With the tool in this condition, the nail driver 28 extends into the bore '53 in the nosepiece 30 but not into the chamber 52, a compression spring 160 surrounding the rod 32 urging the nosepiece and the hammer portion of the tool away from each other. In this condition pressurized air fills all of the passageways and chamber, i.e. 14, 158, 156, 154, 153, 150, 7

148 and 147, between the handle of the tool and the piston chamber 128 and a nail'is in the driving chamber 52 in position to be driven. When a nail is to be driven the jaws 38 of the tool are urged against the work causing the body of the tool to move toward the nosepiece 30. .Thereupon, the trigger 12'is actuated and air is admitted to the motor 22 from the chamber 158 via the passageways 24,25 and 26, the airmotor 22 imparting short reciprocating strokes to the hammer 28. As the hammer approaches the nosepiece, the rod 32 begins to [extend out of the right-hand end of the body portion 36 of the tool and when the nail has been completely driven,

- the transverse bore 153 in the rod'32 has'moved out of the body portion 36 and is exposed to atmosphere. Thereupon, the pressure of the air within the rod 32 and hence in the piston chamber 128 and all of the interconnected passageways falls to atmospheric. The compres sion spring 134 (Fig. 5) then moves the indexing piston 132 downwardly in the piston'chamber 128, thepawl 138 riding over and engaging the next tooth 124. Howdrawn from the chamber 52. Return of the parts to the Fig. 1 or inactive position, causes the transverse bore 153 in the rod 32 to become realigned with the annular chamber 154 resulting in the pressurization of the piston chamber'12S. This causes the piston 132 to move upwardly indexing the nail carrying cylinder 54 one increment thereby placing another nail in the chamber 52 in position to be driven. At the same time the motion of the cylinder 54 relatively to the knife 80 removes another nail from the tape which in its turn will be indexed into the driving position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A tool for driving fasteners supplied from a continuous flexible carrier strip comprising a driving chamber, a driver movable in the chamber, a carrier cylinder having a plurality of circumferential ly spaced grooves, each groove being engageable with a successive fastener carried by a strip and constructed to support fasteners partially outwardly of the circumference of the cylinder, means for rotating thecylinder with its circumference contiguous with the driving chamber whereby a fastener carried in a groove will extend partially into the driving chamber, and a camming surface associated with each groove to direct the fastener wholly into the driving chamber when it is engaged and moved by the driver.

2. A.tool for driving fasteners supplied from a continuous flexible carrier strip comprising a body portion, a nosepiece, a driving chamber in the nosepiece, a driver extending from the body portion and movable into and out of the driving chamber, a pneumatic motor in the body portion for operating said driver, interconnecting the tool.

3. A tool for driving fastenerssupplied from a con tinuous'flexible carrier strip comprising a body portion,

a nosepiece,a driving chamber on the nosepiece, ad'river i extending from the bodyportion and movable into and. i

V j out of the driving chamber, a hollow rod connecting the body portion and the nosepiece, the rod being secured to the nosepiece and slidably mounted inthe body" portion to enable the reciprocation of the :nosepieceflhd the body portion relatively to each other, a cylinder'r o-" v tatably mounted in the nosepiece and engageable with, successive fasteners carried by a strip for moving thev fasteners one at a time into the driving chamber, pne'u matic means for rotatably indexing the cylinder, means l 7 connecting the hollow rod to the pneumatic means, means I for supplying operating air to said rod to operate said pneumatic means after a fastener has been driven and I the driver has moved out of the driving chamber, and 'i.'-

means for venting said hollow rod to render said pneuchamber.

. 4. A tool for driving fasteners secured to the surface I I of a continuous, flat; flexible fastener supply strip comi prising a housing having a driving chamber and a cylinder,

chamber communicating therewith, a fastener indexing cylinder rotatable in said cylinder chamber and having a plurality of'circumferentially spaced grooves,'the diameter of the cylinder being smaller than the diameter of the cylinder'chamber an amount sufiicient to accommodate the thickness of the carrier strip, each groove being engageable with a single fastener and the periphery of the cylinder being engageable with the strip, a passageway leading to the cylinder chamber for directing the carrier strip with the fasteners secured thereto into engagement with the cylinder, and a knife on the housing having at least one Wedge-shaped camming blade engageable with both the fasteners and the strip to remove the fasteners from the strip before they reach the driving 8 chamber and to remove the strip from engagement with the periphery of the cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

